Texas man sentenced in illicit export scheme

Businessman Peter Zuccarelli was sentenced by a U.S. district judge this week to 46 months in jail for his role in conspiring to smuggle and illegally export hardened integrated circuits to China and Russia.    A Plano, Texas resident was sentenced by a U.S. district judge this week to 46 months in jail for his role in conspiring to smuggle and illegally export hardened integrated circuits to China and Russia.
   In addition, the court sentenced Peter Zuccarelli, 62, to three years supervised release and a $50,000 fine.
   The circuits, which were exported in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), were destined for Chinese and Russian space programs.
   According to court records, Zuccarelli and his co-conspirators operated the scheme between June 2015 and March 2016. Zuccarelli’s co-conspirator received purchase orders and $1.5 million in payments from customers seeking to purchase these circuits for use in China and Russia’s space programs. Zuccarelli placed the orders with U.S. suppliers, and used the money received from his co-conspirator to pay the U.S. suppliers.
   Zuccarelli falsely certified that his company, American Coating Technologies, was the end user of the circuits. Once he received the circuits, he removed them from their original packaging, repackaged them, falsely declared them as “touch screen parts,” and shipped them out of the United States without the required export licenses, the Justice Department said.